Sermon “God Proclaims His Gospel”
Lord, let us see your face, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Have you ever been confronted with something great and amazing? Maybe you've been amazed by watching a big thunderstorm. Maybe you've been impressed by the actual size of a mountain range when you'reclose to it. Maybe you're one of those men who knows the awe and wonder of an antique car that runs flawlessly, true romance indeed. Or maybe you're like my son-in-law who is amazed by the beauty of the structure of proteins. These are just a few examples of ways God has revealed his glory, ways that our Lord shows that he is the creator and sustainer of all, that he is the one in whom all things hold together. God reveals his glory to us in things that are greater than we can imagine. We saw a few examples of that in today's Scriptures.
In Isaiah we saw that when our Lord comes to us he calls us to repentance. His glory fills the temple and we are undone. He reveals himself and Isaiah sees that he is defiled and unworthy. God comes on the scene and all of a sudden we realize that we are insignificant little beings without hope in this world. We see that we cannot possibly stand in his presence. We need our Lord to cleanse us and forgive us. Isn't that exactly what we confessed earlier in today's service? Just as he did in Isaiah's case, he will work in us. We confess our sins and he is faithful to forgive our sins. He is the one who purifies us from all our sin. Is that always a pleasant process? Not really. We don't like being cleaned up. We don't like having those rough edges worn off. We don't like having our evil dug out of us. Notice in Isaiah that the angel took the coal with tongs and applied it to Isaiah's mouth. Is this fearful? What will your reaction be if I take something out of the fire and move it toward you? Of course I'm not God's angel and it is not a coal from the fire of God's altar. But when our Lord promises cleansing it isn't always something we want. He promises to forgive us our sin, but he tells us to confess it. Really? Confess THAT?? I don't even want God to know about THAT part of my life!! But I've got news for you, in case you hadn't noticed. Our Lord knows everything. He already knows what we need to confess. He already knows our sin and shame. He knows it better than we do. He knows and cares enough to die in our place. Jesus calls us to repentance so he can apply his forgiveness to us. That's the means he uses. Confess before the Lord! He will forgive freely.
What else does the Lord do when he confronts us? He calls us to questioning. Sometimes we need to ask him what he is doing. Sometimes we need to ask him what we are doing. Like Nicodemus, sometimes when we are amazed we simply need to seek clarification. Even he, a teacher of God's Law, needed to ask about the grace of God. We don't really understand it. But what does our Lord say? He tells Nicodemus that he works out his grace in a particular way. I think I've probably said this before here, but if you're like me you don't remember when someone tells you once. Remember John 3:16? Jesus doesn't use a word to say that God loves the world “so much” that he sent his son. He says that God loves the world “in this way” - that he sent his son. That isn't the way we would probably love the world. We'd do something else. The possibilities are endless. If we wanted to devise a way to save the world from sin, I'm sure we could think of lots of ways. How did God do it? He did it by arranging that God the Son would come and die, taking upon himself all the sin of the world, and paying the penalty for that sin himself. Then he would put his own righteousness and love upon us, so that as we believe that Jesus has given himself for us we see that he really has. God has loved the world. And he tells us how. Nicodemus needed to ask. Likely we do also.
How does God's glory confront us? He does it through Scripture. He does it through showing himself in his creation. How does God give us his comfort? How does he resolve our repentance? How does he answer our questions? He does it in His Word. He does it in his living Word, Jesus, crucified and risen for us, giving himself again and again on the altar in communion. What does Peter have to say in Acts? He says that God has revealed himself in history and finally in the person and work of Jesus we receive forgiveness and all that we need for life and salvation. Jesus as revealed in Scripture is God himself, coming to accomplish God's purposes. This drives us to repentance so we can receive God's forgiveness. It also should drive us to a careful study of the Scriptures. It is through the Word of God that we realize who we are in the eys of God. It is through the Word of God that we realize what our Lord has done in this world on our behalf.
How are we going to look to our Lord if we do not know the Word of God? That's why I've been challenging people in reading the Bible. That's why we are having a very serious, hard-hitting teen Bible class starting this Wednesday. The young people in our church and community deserve to know about this New Testament, the collection of writings that give us very specific revelation of our Savior, the collection of writings that sprang from the group of people who, as we read in Acts, “turned the world upside down.” Our young people deserve to know how to read and understand the Scripture better. And that goes not only for the teens in our own church, but I have asked them and will continue to ask them to invite their friends, Christian or not, because we're going to look at what is is those Christians believed in the early years, why they believed what they believed, and what it influenced them to do in their society, forming charitable organizations, hospitals, food relief, adoption agencies, groups who would work together for good in their community. Do we want to see people living with purpose? Let's get ourselves and others plugged into God's Word! Let's fill this building with people studying the Scripture and praying, people who are then ready to go out and show Christ's mercy to our community. Let's see the men's group thriving and leading us in worship, study, and service. Let's see that the women's circles pour themselves into the Scripture and prayer, doing acts of charity diligently. Let's see our young people trained in the things of the Christian faith so they can live a godly life and defend the faith before their peers. It all starts as we look to our Lord, revealed in Scripture, coming to us in Word and Sacrament, showing himself to be the mighty, holy Lord, calling us to repentance and faith.
Are we ready to receive from our Lord? Are we ready to lay down our ideas of what makes us good and worthy, preferring to be cleansed by him, forgiven? Are we ready to stop trying to save the world by our suffering and rather see that our Lord and Savior Jesus suffered on our behalf to give us his perfect righteous love? Are we ready to let our Lord use us as his instruments of mercy? Then let us confess our common faith together, turn to him in hope, and see that he has presented himself to us, the greatest offering of all, laid on the table, to feed us with forgiveness, life, and salvation.
Pray with me, please.
Our Lord God, you have shown your glory to us. Grant us repentance, that we may confess we are not able to govern our lives rightly. We confess that we have sinneed before you. Take the coal from your altar. Burn away our evil. Present us before you as a holy offering. We pray that in your grace you would look upon us and see the perfect righteousness of your Son Jesus Christ. This we pray in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
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